The Hammer For Smashing
Illusion

Shankaracharya's famous "Bhaja Govindam"

Introduction

Shripad Shankaracharya was born approximately 780 AD in
the
Kerala section of India (modern Malabar) in a village named Kalati. At
a
very early age he was inclined towards renunciation and spiritual
practices and wonderful exploits are attributed to him even during his
childhood. For instance, by dint of his spiritual potency, he brought
the local river near to his house to save his mother the trouble of
going there. By the age
of seven he had taken initiation from his spiritual master, and by the
age
of nine he had left his loving mother and father, renounced the world
and
taken sannyasa.

Shankaracharya's spiritual master was Govinda, whom he
met in the forest known as Govindanatha on the bank of the river
Indubhava. Thus, we find the name Govinda in all the works of
Shankaracharya, who always called himself
"Srimadgovinda-bhagavat-pujyapada-sisya". Govinda was the disciple of
Gaudapadacharya, who in turn was the disciple of Srila Sukadeva
Goswami, the son of Vyasadeva (the compiler of all the Vedic
literatures.)

At the command of his guru, Shankara went to
Kasi and
composed the most famous of his bhasyas (commentaries) on the Vedanta-sutras.
The next important event in the life
of Shankara was his dialectical contest at Mahismati with Mandanamisra
who
was the premier exponent of Mimamsa philosophy. The debate lasted
several days and ended by Mandanamisra accepting defeat and becoming
Shankara's most beloved pupil--afterwards known as Sureshvaracharya.
Shankara then made
a tour through India where he powerfully refuted all doctrines except
that
of absolute Monism (kevaladvaita). By his extraordinary potency
he
attracted many notable disciples, chief of whom were Padmapada, Totaka
and
Hastamalaka.

By virtue of his zealous missionary work, he
established four mathas (seats of religion) at the four ends of
India: The Sringerimatha on the Sringeri hills in the southern part of
India,
the Sraradamatha at Dwarka in the west, the Jyotirmatha at
Badarikashrama
in the north and the Govardhanamatha at Puri in the east. Each of these
mathas is still in existence carrying on the tradition of their
founder.

The voluminous written works of Shankara include
commentaries on the Vedanta-sutras (Sariraka-bhasya),
the ten principal Upanishads, Bhagavad-gita and the Vishnu
Sahasranam.

Shankara was not an ordinary person. He is accepted by
all Vedic authorities as an incarnation of Lord Shiva. In the Padma
Purana, Lord Shiva in his own words describes his mission:

"The Mayavadi philosophy," Lord Shiva informed his wife
Parvati, "is impious (asach-chastra). It is covered Buddhism. My
dear Parvati, in the form of a brahmana in Kali-yuga, I teach
this imagined Mayavadi philosophy. In order to cheat the atheists, I
describe the Supreme Personality of Godhead to be without form and
without qualities. Similarly in explaining Vedanta I
describe the same Mayavadi philosophy in order to mislead the entire
population toward atheism by denying the personal form of the Lord." In
the Shiva Purana the Supreme Personality of Godhead told
Lord Shiva: "In Kali-yuga, mislead the people in general by propounding
imaginary meanings for the Vedas to bewilder them."

Although Shankara presented this covered Buddhism or
impersonal philosophy, if we examine his most intimate and confidential
writings, we find that they are actually full of krishna-bhakti
(devotion to Krishna).

Towards the end of his life (he lived to be only 42) his headquarters
was in Benares. One morning, while passing through the streets with
some of his disciples, he saw an old brahmana futiley
struggling at the point of death, trying to recite the panani-sutras
(grammatical rules of Sanskrit). Although the brahmana was just
about to pass away, still he was only reciting these panani-sutras.
Even though Shankara had based his entire Vedic explanation on these
grammatical rules, still he
immediately composed the first verse of this Moha-Mudgara-Stotra,
which describes the futility of any activity except the worship of the
Supreme Personality of Godhead, Lord Sri Krishna.